Electrical distribution



Jan. 8, 1935. H, s. ARNOLD ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION Filed Aug. 6, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet l ma QN uw? a @fm-m IIIII lv| Jan- 81935 1 H. s. ARNOLD ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION Filed Aug. 6, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR f/afr Jan. 8, 1935. vH, s. ARNOLD 1,986,874

ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION Filed Aug. 6, 193].a 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Jan. 8, 1935, H. s. ARNOLD ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION NVENTOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 6, 1931 NEY elbow or other sections, in various length and all Vthe direction ofthe nearest branch or feed connections. `The actual entrance to the raceway is effected in the present disclosure by simplydrillinga'hole 22 down through the selected marker into the,"

channel beneath such marker.` This may be accomplished by a wood or metal'boringl'tool, in the magnesite form of raceway above featured. The

bore thus provided being the thickness of the top of the V'raceway plus Itheheight of the spotting lug is suiciently long" to provide -a rm bearing andV support for a length of conduit or outlet; pipe inserted-therein, particularly when the same is screwthreaded into such bore. A portionof such a pipe is `"shown at 23 in Fig. 5 havinga screw threaded end24 which'canbe .turned to cut vthe companion screw seat 25 directly in the walls of such bore. '-IfV desired, thisscrew seat-may be formed by an ordinary.:screw'tapbutthe pipe thread is usually suiicient for the purpose, the

holebeing' drilled slightly smaller thanl the pipe thread, as indicated to enable the pipe to cut av properthread for itself in the bore.`

Theraceway may be made in straight, curved,

combined `in various ways, to meet vthe layout requirements of. different buildings. Thelengths of raceway may be suitablyr joined as by interttin'g or overlapping joints suchl as indicated at 26inFig.5.f 1

Atithe ends vor intermediate points, the raceways may 'connect with horizontally or vertically extendingways, thus asshown more particularly in` Figs. 4,k 5, 7 yand 8, the floor raceways may connect at the ends with the baseboard raceways shownas composed` of base blocks 27 havingopen front highy tension and low tension channels 28, 29 in the face of the same.

"In, the construction shown in Figs. 4 and 5 connection of the floor channels with the baseboard channels is effected by abutting the end of the oor raceways with'a dependent portion 300iv one of the base blocks with the channels 15, 16 thereofengaged over the throats 31,32 projecting from the face of such extension and extending upwardly through the block into com-V municationlrespectively with the high andlow tension channels of theblock at 33, .34. These pass up through vthe y*special connection blocks and may -be provided byrmetallic tubing members molded in the block atthe time .of manufacture,

' curved as indicated tok present a smooth easy passagefor the shing ofthe wiresf and-*arranged as lindicated in -Fig with the insert going to the upper raceway extending up through the back i of the-block in rear'of the lower raceway, and

with Ythe'twoinse'i'rts oifset in the length of the block so as not to interfere one with the other.y As an alternative, if desired, the passes 33, 34 may be `formed entirely of the material' ofthe block, including suiiicient of a boss or projection at the bottom for the end ofthe oor race'to be interlocked'wth'.-

lzIn'.therform-illustrated irl-Figs. 7 andlfthe connecting base blocks 27a are the same height as the adjoining base blocks and like the adjoining blocks, rest directly on the floor surface and special end blocks a are provided at the ends of the oor raceways having upwardly extending Ways 33a, 34a formed by inserts or otherwise, as above described and projecting above the oor level up into the companion throat portions 33D, 34h opening down through the bottom of the base block. This construction has the advantage over the i'lrst described that thebase blocks can all be put in after the floor has been laid, instead of Yrequiring as inv Figs. 4 and 5 that the connection base blocks be placed before the oor is completed or openings be left to set such blocks down in the The base blocks carrying the channels for the high and 4lowv tension wiring are indicated as extending continuously about the walls of the room, including partitions, columns, etc. At the partitions the base blocks may be placed back to back as at 35, Fig. 1, the top flanges 36 of such blocks ythen providing a channel 37 for the hollow tile or other partition formingv elements. Raceways are provided in the partitions in the present disclosure L by the? special lpartition blocks or tiles 38, Figs. 1

and 2'havin`g vertical passages 39 up through -the same whichas indicated, may be formed nearest one end. ofthe block so that by alternate arrangement of vsuperposed blocks, they may be keyed in the wall with passageway extending vertically in a straight line. The blocksmay be of half the thickness of the partition, as indicated inv Fig. 2 so that separate raceways may beprovided in. adjoining rooms and even with such blocksv placed in alignment back to back.

lAtthe lower ends the partition raceways 39 may be connected with the baseboard raceways by simply drilling ydown through the base blocks or notching out sections of the block as indicated at 40 in Fig. 6 to communicate with either or both the channels 28, 29. f J

Vertical raceways on the columns are provided in thel illustration by the special angular corner tiles shown at 41, Figs. l, 2 and 3`, placed on diagonally opposite .corners of thenished column, resting at the bottom behind the flanges 36 of the base blocks and communicating with the wiring channels 28, 29 therein-as by the cutouts 42, 43, indicated down through the tops of the blocks. Beneath the windows, junction boxes such as indicated at 44 maybe provided the same being shown as communicating at opposite ends with the channels in the base blocks at 45 and at .the frontwith one of the floor raceways at 46v and a number of pipe conduits 47. Also in Fig. 1 avpipe conduit 48 is indicated extending from the top of the box up through the wall and over into the ,-ceiling structure to a ceiling outlet 49 from which branches 50 extend to other portions of the ceiling to additional ceiling outlets 51.

By the construction and combination disclosed,

c service connections for lighting or power purposes,

telephones, signals, call systems or the like may be made at any time practically anywhere about the room, including the ioor, side walls, partitionscolumns, and ceiling and at but very slight expense. y The 'initial installation is relatively inexpensive, particularly as regards the floor raceways, which possibly are the most important of the system.v 'I'he location and extent of such raceways is known from the indicators or markers in the-floor, which form parts of both the iioor and the raceways and serve when entered to provide seats and reinforcement for the service pipes, Y

` 1,986,874 lconduits or fittings engaged therewith. These raceways, with their double channels provide in the one structure, conduitsfor both the high tension and low tension circuits, eliminating the need for the separate conduit systems heretofore found necessary and, because of` their at arch construction, reinforced by the intermediate dividing o partition, theyv do not take up too much room` in spotting members struck up as hollow imper-4 forate bosses. As illustrated in Fig. V,7 the junction boxes 44 do not extend below V,the floor level and may vin fact, like the base blocks" 27a be set upon the oor finish and the raceways be entered through the bottom" oi the same. Many other changes and modiiications may be made all within the broad scope of thepatent claims.

maintains privacy for tenants spaces because of such fact that wires entering eachbay do1not lhave `topass through other bays.

` The in`ventionbeingci` broad scope, it should be understood that the terms AAAemployed herein `have been used a'descriptivef rather than ina limitingsense except for such' possible limitations as may beimposed by the state of the prior art.

LLI

What is claimed is: V 1. A iloor raceway comprising a unitary molded body of cementitious materialhaving a `multiplicity of wire receivingchannels in the underside of the same and solid bosses on the of the body over the channels therein. y

2. A floor raceway comprising a unitary molded body of cementitious materialhaving a multi-A plicity of wire receiving channels in the underside of the same and solid bosses on the to-p of the,

body over the channels therein and said cementitious material being of'a readilylcut structure` i adaptedto be bored downthrough said bosses Aand to take the screw threads for sustaining a Iscrew threaded conduit or the like.

3.` An underoor duct of readily machined cementiticus material inthe form of ahollow arch having integral upstanding `bosses rising toI a height substantially equal to the lloor level line.

4. An underoor duct of readily -omachined cementitious material in the form of a hollow arch having integral` upstanding bosses rising to a height substantially equal to the floor level line,

The systemt as designed concentrates all ofthe electric wiring for each individual tenant in one bayand thereby 1 "individualduct in the floor raceway blocks, said. lblocks having intertting portions at their adduct from those over another duct. i i

6.` A licor raceway, comprising unitary molded` blocks of cementitious material having a multiplicityl of downwardly open wire receiving channels in the4 underside of the same and provided by intermediate partition or partitions forming a column orcolumns supporting the intermediate arch portions of the` blocks and upstanding bosses o-n the blocks over the individual wire receiving channels and characteristically distinguishedthose over one'channel fromthose over another channel.

7. In combination, unitary molded multiple duct oor raceway blocks and multiple ductbaseoor racewayblocks and having conduits extending each from an vindividual duct therein to an joining ends .establishing communication of said vindividual conduits in theA wall base blocks with said individual ducts in the'multiple duct raceway fblock;

f 8. A` floor construction, comprising a concrete iloor slab, a padon said floor slab, a composition duct supported on said pad, said duct having a top wall and side walls with projections on said top wall, concrete ilooring material on said floor slab, ush with the top of said projections,` said projections being integral with said duct and of a composition capable of being drilled.

9. In combination, molded multiple duct floor raceway blocks of cementitious material, molded multiple ductbaseboard blocks of cementitious materials, said two sets of blocks having inter- `2o board blocks of cementitious material, said base-` board blocks being seated at the ends of said locking members establishing communication beftween each duct in the floor raceway blocksand a particular ductinV the `baseboard blocks and Vmolded wall blocks of cementitious material having a duct in communication only with a particu-- lar duct of thebaseboard blocks. Y Y

10. In combination, wall `tiles having vertical wire raceways therethrough and located nearest one end o-f each tile and whereby said tiles assembled in alternately reversed relation will pro` vide` a straight wireraceway up therethrough.

HARRY si ARNOLD. 

